Answers
A short, factual answer with the programs named, their platforms, their prices, and what each one leaves out.
Most working astrologers use one of a handful of programs: Solar Fire on Windows and Mac, Astro Gold on Mac and mobile, TimePassages, Chronos in the Russian-speaking world, or a browser workspace such as Astrolium, Astrologer or Steliara.
There is no industry survey behind that list, and anyone who tells you there is probably has a product to sell. What there is: a small set of programs that come up again and again in professional practice, split neatly into two kinds. One kind calculates charts very deeply and knows nothing about your week. The other kind tries to hold the practice as well.
Every price and platform below was checked on the maker's own page on 12 October 2026, and the source is named in each row. Software changes, so check again before you buy.
| Program | What it is | Platforms | Price | What it does not do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar Fire X | The deep desktop calculator, and the reference point for professional work | Windows 10 and 11, and native macOS 14 or newer | US$360 new licence, US$99 from Solar Fire 9 | Solar Fire 9 is no longer sold. No iPad, iPhone or Android version, and its pages describe no recording of a consultation |
| Astro Gold | From the creators of Solar Fire, with phone and tablet versions of the same program | macOS, Windows, iPad and phone, Android | No price shown on astrogold.io today | Its pages do not describe recording or transcribing a session |
| TimePassages | Calculator with built-in written interpretations, plus a browser version | Windows, macOS, iPhone, Android, browser | Basic $79, Standard $179, Advanced $279, Complete Package $699 | Saved charts, but no client records, recording or transcription described |
| Chronos | The online astroprocessor most used in the Russian-speaking market | Browser | Seven-day free trial, no figures on its home page | Books consultations with its own astrologers; no session records described |
| Astrolium | Browser workspace: charts, client profiles, notes, an assistant | Browser | Free, Pro $11, Adept $29, Master $79, Personal $12 | Its pricing page does not mention video calls, recording or transcription |
| Astrologer | Browser charts with a built-in client CRM, booking and calendar sync | Browser | No price on its home page | Its home page does not mention video calls or recording a session |
| Steliara | Browser workspace where the consultation itself is recorded and summarized | Browser, on macOS, Windows or a tablet | Practitioner $24, Studio $39 | Six house systems, no astrocartography, no Vedic work, no free tier |
Sources, all read on 12 October 2026 (the Solar Fire entries were re-read on 28 October 2026): alabe.com/solar-fire-x-buy.html, sfx.alabe.com/system-requirements, alabe.com/solarfireV9.html, astrogold.io, astrograph.com/timepassages/editions, chronos.mg, astrolium.com/pricing, astrologerapp.org.
Read that table again and you can see the line. Solar Fire, Astro Gold and TimePassages are calculators: they compute more than most astrologers will ever use, they are installed on your own computers, and the most they keep of a reading is whatever you found time to type into a comment field afterwards. Astrolium, Astrologer, Chronos and Steliara run in a browser and try to hold more of the practice.
Which means the real question is not "what do professionals use". It is "what part of your week is the painful part". If the painful part is a chart technique you cannot get elsewhere, buy the deepest calculator. If it is the scheduling, buy the one built around booking. If it is that you finish a two-hour reading and six months later you are the one working from memory, that is a different tool again.
Steliara is one of the browser workspaces, and it would be useless to pretend it is the widest or the cheapest. It is not. Solar Fire lists 30 house systems and Astrolium lists 23; Steliara lets you pick six. Astrolium ships horary, electional search, astrocartography and Vedic work, and publishes a free tier; Steliara does none of those and has no free tier. Steliara writes no interpretation reports, by design, because the assistant finds facts and does not interpret.
What it has instead is one thing the others' own pages do not describe: the consultation. You run the reading as a video call in the app, the audio is recorded once both sides agree, it is transcribed, and a short summary lands on that person's profile beside their charts and your notes. That is the whole reason to pick it, and if it does not matter to you, one of the other programs above is a better buy.
AI will never read a chart for you. It just finds the facts faster: the aspects, the exact dates, where a planet sits. The summary captures what you said. You stay the astrologer.
For calculation depth it is still the reference point. Solar Fire X, which replaced Solar Fire 9, costs US$360 new or US$99 as an upgrade from Solar Fire 9, and runs on Windows 10 and 11 and as a native Mac app. Its feature pages cover charting, maps, forecasting, research, reports and interpretations, with Vedic, astrocartography and electional workflows, and Solar Fire 9's page listed 30 house systems. Its pages do not describe recording a consultation. Checked on alabe.com and sfx.alabe.com on 28 October 2026.
Yes, in two ways. Native Mac programs now include Solar Fire X, which Astrolabe sells as a native Mac app for macOS 14 or newer, and Astro Gold, and the browser workspaces run on any machine. There is a separate answer on the best astrology software for a Mac, and a page for people weighing a Solar Fire alternative.
Many use free sites such as Astro-Seek or Astrodienst for a quick chart, and Astrolium publishes a free tier with all 23 of its house systems and five client profiles. Free tools are fine for calculating a chart. They stop being enough once a practice needs the history of everyone you read for in one place.
Of the programs named here, Steliara is the one that does. It runs the consultation as a video call, records the audio once both sides agree, transcribes it and saves a short summary on the profile of the person you read for. On 12 October 2026 the public pricing and feature pages of Astrolium, Astrologer, Chronos, TimePassages and Solar Fire did not mention recording or transcribing a session.
Often, yes. Steliara imports chart files from ZET, Astro.com, Astrolog, and the .SFcht files that Solar Fire 9 and Astro Gold use, up to 5 MiB and 2,000 records per file, with possible duplicates flagged. Notes on a source chart come across for every format except Astrolog. Subsidiary charts inside a Solar Fire record and the original program's calculation settings do not.
Practitioner is $24 a month, or $20 a month billed annually. Studio is $39 a month, or $32 a month billed annually, and is the plan that includes recorded consultations, transcripts and summaries. Every account starts with a 14-day trial of every feature and no card is required.
Everything about every person you read for, including the actual recorded consultations, in one place.
Start free, no card neededLast reviewed 12 October 2026.